973»7L63         Hertz^   Emarmel       '; 
GHiiJiabr  Lincoln  s     more  than  a  country 

lawyer » 


LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

MORE  THAN  A  COUNTRY 
LAWYER 


By 
EMANUEL  HERTZ 


Delivered  at  the  Bronx  County  Bar  Association, 
February  8,  1928 


This  pamphlet  is  dedicated  in  partial  recognition  of 

a  debt  of  gratitude  to 

JOHN  WESLEY  HILL,  DD,  LLD., 

Chancellor  of  Lincoln  Memorial  University,  who 
first  awoke  in  me  the  desire  to  read  and  study  the 
life  and  works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  who  has 
given  his  life  and  his  great  abilities  toward  educating 
the  youth  of  America  in  Lincoln's  own  birthplace. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


U3 

^ 
^ 

r>> 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 
MORE  THAN  A  COUNTRY  LAWYER 

By  EMANUEL  HERTZ 

A  DEFINITIVE  life  of  Lincoln,  when  it  comes  to  be  writ- 
'-'  ^ten — a  task  which  awaits  some  natural  born  historian  and 
biographer,  at  a  time  when  all  of  the  Lincoln  material  which  is 
now  in  hiding  will  come  to  the  surface  and  will  become  avail- 
able for  a  proper  appraisal  of  that  truly  remarkable  man,  will 
dissolve  many  a  fiction  and  will  dispel  many  a  belief  which  is 
now  supported  by  legend  and  story  only.  Among  the  many 
notions  which  have  become  current  about  Lincoln  none  is  more 
inadequate  than  the  treatment  he  has  received  from  the  biog- 
raphers as  to  his  activities  as  a  lawyer.  There  are  those  who 
claim  for  him  all  he  achieved  and  all  he  has  accomplished  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a  lawyer.  But  when  we  consider 
that  about  two-thirds  of  our  chief  magistrates  have  at  one  time 
or  other  during  their  careers  been  lawyers  or  judges^ — and  yet 
that  particular  phase  had  but  little  to  do  with  the  success  or 
failure  of  their  administration — we  might  well  hesitate  to  claim 
that  Lincoln  owed  so  much  to  the  fact  that  law  became  his 
permanent  profession. 

And  then,  too,  it  is  a  peculiar  picture  that  comes  to  us  through 
the  maze  of  legend  as  to  the  kind  of  lawyer  he  was.  The  crim- 
inal causes  had  a  great  vogue  on  the  frontiers  of  civilization  in 
those  days — and  Lincoln's  two  or  three  great  victories  in  crim- 
inal causes  have  captured  the  imagination  of  the  hero-wor- 
shipper  who  cannot  imagine  Lincoln  preparing  a  brief  on 

appeal,  or  thinking  out  a  carefully  prepared  legal  document. 
We  overlook  his  versatility  as  a  pleader,  as  an  adviser,  as  an 
arbitrator  of  causes,  as  a  student  of  Constitutional  law,  in 
which  he  hardly  had  an  equal,  unless  we  take  into  consideration 

5 


787441 


the  great  legal  instincts  of  John  Marshall.  The  late  Senator 
Beveridge  whose  untimely  death  crippled  the  second  great  un- 
dertaking of  his  life — a  companion  work  to  his  life  of  the  great 
Chief  Justice — saw  the  resemblance  between  these  two  great 
outstanding  leaders  of  men — and  I  cannot  help  quoting  in  full 
what  he  says.  When  he  approaches  the  climax  in  his  epoch- 
making  life  of  Marshall,  and  wants  to  give  his  readers  an  idea 
how  great  Marshall  really  was: 

u^  >(c  ;jc  -y^g  must  imagine  a  person  very  much  like 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

"Indeed,  the  resemblance  of  Marshall  to  Lincoln  is 
striking.  Between  no  two  men  in  American  history  is 
there  such  a  likeness.  Physically,  intellectually,  and  in 
characteristics,  Marshall  and  Lincoln  were  of  the  same 
type.  Both  were  very  tall  men,  slender,  loose- jointed,  and 
awkward,  but  powerful  and  athletic;  and  both  fond  of 
sport.  So  alike  were  they,  and  so  identical  in  their  negli- 
gence of  dress  and  their  total  unconsciousness  of,  or  in- 
difference to,  convention,  that  the  two  men,  walking  side 
by 'side,  might  well  have  been  taken  for  brothers. 

''Both  Marshall  and  Lincoln  loved  companionship  with 
the  same  heartiness,  and  both  had  the  same  social  qualities. 
They  enjoyed  fun,  jokes,  laughter,  in  equal  measure,  and 
had  the  same  keen  appreciation  of  wit  and  humor.  Their 
mental  qualities  were  the  same.  Each  man  had  the  gift 
of  going  directly  to  the  heart  of  any  subject;  while  the 
same  lucidity  of  statement  marked  each  of  them.  Their 
style,  the  simplicity  of  their  language,  the  peculiar  clear- 
ness of  their  logic,  were  almost  identical.  Notwithstanding, 
their  straightforwardness  and  amplitude  of  mind,  both 
had  a  curious  sublety.  Some  of  Marshall's  opinions  and 
Lincoln's  State  papers  might  have  been  written  by  the 
same  man.  The  'Freeholder'  questions  and  answers  in 
Marshall's  Congressional  campaign,  and  those  of  Lincoln's 

6 


debate  with  Douglas,  are  strikingly  similar  in  method  and 
expression. 

"Each  had  a  genius  for  managing  men ;  and  Marshall 
showed  the  precise  traits  in  dealing  with  the  members  of 
the  Supreme  Court  that  Lincoln  displayed  in  the  Cabinet. 

''Both  were  born  in  the  South,  each  on  the  eve  of  a  great 
epoch  in  American  history  when  a  new  spirit  was  awaken- 
ing in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Although  Southern-born, 
both  Marshall  and  Lincoln  sympathized  with  and  believed 
in  the  North;  and  yet  their  manners  and  instinct  were 
always  those  of  the  South.  Marshall  was  given  advan- 
tages that  Lincoln  never  had;  but  both  were  men  of  the 
people,  were  brought  up  among  them,  and  knew  them 
thoroughly.  Lincoln's  outlook  upon  life,  however,  was 
that  of  the  humblest  citizen;  Marshall's  that  of  the  well- 
placed  and  prosperous.  Neither  was  well  educated,  but 
each  acquired,  in  different  ways,  a  command  of  excellent 
English  and  broad,  plain  conceptions  of  government  and 
of  life.  Neither  was  a  learned  man,  but  both  created  the 
materials  for  learning. 

"Marshall  and  Lincoln  were  equally  good  politicians ; 
but,  although  both  were  conservative  in  their  mental  pro- 
cesses, Marshall  lost  faith  in  the  people's  steadiness,  mod- 
eration, and  self-restraint;  and  came  to  think  that  impulse 
rather  than  wisdom  was  too  often  the  temporary  moving 
power  in  the  popular  mind,  while  the  confidence  of  Lin- 
coln in  the  good  sense,  righteousness,  and  self-control  of 
the  people  became  greater  as  his  life  advanced.  If,  with 
these  distinctions,  Abraham  Lincoln  were,  in  imagination, 
placed  upon  the  Supreme  Bench  during  the  period  we  are 
now  cotisidering,  we  should  have  a  good  idea  of  John 
Marshall,  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States." 

A  few  days  before  his  death,  he  wrote  me  and  asked  for  a 
photostatic  copy  of  a  very  'fine  document  which  Lincoln  pre- 


pared  in  establishing  the  first  German  newspaper  in  Springfield 
under  the  editorship  of  Dr.  Canisius.  It  would  do  your  hearts 
good  to  see  and  read  that  document  which  he  prepared  with  his 
usual  care.  But  the  day  I  was  to  take  it  for  photostating  saw 
the  passing  of  Beveridge  and  he  never  saw  the  original  docu- 
ment.   The  document  is  herein  published  for  the  first  time. 

Almost  every  paper  Lincoln  put  his  hand  to,  comes  out  a 
perfect  legal  document.  As  I  promised  to  show  you  new  ones 
only,  documents  which  had  never  be(n  published,  I  will  call 
your  attention  to  a  legal  opinion  of  Lincoln's  as  to  the  con- 
struction of  an  old  Federal  Statute — applying  to  surveyors  T 
have  seen  all  his  published  works  in  all  collections,  but  never  a 
legal  opinion  such  as  this: 

"The  11th  Section  of  the  Act  of  Congress,  approved 
Feb.  11,  1805,  prescribing  rules  for  the  subdivision  of 
Sections  of  land  within  the  United  States  system  of  Sur- 
veys, standing  unrepealed,  in  my  opinion,  is  binding  on 
the  respective  purchasers  of  different  parts  of  the  same 
Section,  and  furnishes  the  true  rule  for  Surveyors  in 
establishing  lines  between  them —  That  law,  being  in 
force  at  the  time  each  became  a  purchaser,  becomes  a  con- 
dition of  the  purchase — 

"And,  by  that  law,  I  think  the  true  rule  for  dividing  into 
quarters,  any  interior  Section,  or  Section  which  is  not  frac- 
tional, is  to  run  straight  lines  through  the  Section  from  the 
opposite  quarter  section  corners,  fixing  the  point  when 
such  straight  lines  cross,  or  intersect  each  other,  as  the 
middle,  or  center  of  the  Section — 

"Nearly,  perhaps  quite,  all  the  original  surveys  are,  to 
some  extent,  erroneous;  and,  in  some  of  the  Sections, 
geratly  so —  In  each  of  the  latter,  it  is  obvious  that  a 
more  equitable  mode  of  division  than  the  above,  might  be 
adopted;  but  as  error  is  infinitely  various,  perhaps  no  bet- 

8 


ter  single  rule  can  be  prescribed.    At  all  events  I  think  the 
above  has  been  prescribed  by  the  competent  authority — 
Springfield,  Jany.  11,  1859. 

A.  LINCOLN." 

And  yet  the  works  of  Lincoln's  legal  activities  have  been 
definitely  set  down  in  the  two  or  three  books  on  that  phase  of 
his  Hfe. 

We  are  also  led  to  believe  that  his  was  a  perfectly  angelic 
nature  with  clients  and  litigants  on  all  occasions  and  under  all 
circumstances.  Nothing  can  be  further  from  the  truth.  Listen 
to  this  letter  to  a  client  who  is  unfair  and  who  complams  that 
his  business  had  been  neglected  by  the  firm  of  Lincoln  & 
Herndon.  The  letter  was  received  soon  after  the  conclusion  of 
the  great  joint  debate  with  Douglas.  In  the  very  nature  of 
things  Lincoln  must  have  been  much  depressed  not  only  by  his 
failure  to  reach  the  Senate,  but  also  by  his  loss  of  income  and 
his  expense  during  the  period  occupied  by  the  joint  debatt.  He 
had  about  started  to  recoup  his  losses  and  better  his  never  over- 
prosperous  financial  condition.  Herndon  was  never  more  than 
a  good  ofiice  man,  and  a  high  class  managing  clerk,  although 
Lincoln  and  "Billy"  Herndon  had  been  partners  sixteen  years, 
during  which  Lincoln  always  took  care  that  "Herndon's  half" 
of  their  fee  was  always  paid  over  to  Billy.  "Billy"  never  for- 
gave Lincoln — after  the  latter  had  become  President,  his  utter 
failure  to  appoint  Herndon  to  any  important  post  either  in  his 
Cabinet,  to  the  Federal  Bench  or  to  any  other  important  posi- 
tion. Late  in  his  first  term  he  made  the  only  offer  of  a  $10 
per  diem  appointment  to  look  after  a  minor  matter  in  St.  Louis 
which  Herndon  declined.  But  here  is  the  letter  which  Lincoln 
wrote  to  the  dissatisfied  clients : 

"Never  to  be  published — Herndon. 


Springfield,    Novr.    17,    1858. 

''Messrs.  S.  C.  Davis  &  Co. 

Gentlemen 

"You  perhaps  need  not  to  be  reminded  how  I  have  been 
personally  engaged  for  the  last  three  or  four  months — 
Your  letter  to  Lincoln  &  Herndon,  of  Oct.  1st  complain- 
ing that  the  lands  of  those  against  whom  we  obtained  judg- 
ment last  winter  for  you,  have  not  been  sold  on  execution 
has  just  been  handed  to  me  to-day —  I  will  try  to  'explain 
how  our'  (your)  'interests  have  been  so  much  neglected' 
as  you  choose  to  express  it —  After  these  judgemnts  were 
obtained  we  wrote  you  that  under  our  law,  the  selling  of 
land  on  execution  is  a  delicate  and  dangerous,  matter;  that 
it  could  not  be  done  safely,  without  a  careful  examination 
of  titles,  and  also  of  the  value  of  the  property —  Our  let- 
ters to  you  will  show  this —  To  do  this  would  require  a 
canvass  of  half  the  State- —  We  were  puzzled,  &  you  sent 
no  definite  instructions —  At  length  we  employed  a  young 
man  to  visit  all  the  localities,  and  make  as  accurate  a  re- 
port on  titles  and  values  as  he  could —  He  did  this,  ex- 
pending three  or  four  weeks  time,  and  as  he  said,  over  a 
hundred  dollars  of  his  own  money  in  doing  so —  When 
this  was  done  we  wrote  you,  asking  if  we  should  sell  and 
bid  in  for  you  in  accordance  with  this  information —  This 
letter  you  never  answered — 

"My  mind  is  made  up —  I  will  have  no  more  to  do  with 
this  class  of  business —  I  can  do  business  in  Court,  but  1 
can  not,  and  will  not  follow  executions  all  over  the  world. 
The  young  man  who  collected  the  information  for  us  is  an 
active  young  lawyer  living  at  Carrollton,  Green  County,  I 
think —  We  promised  him  a  share  of  the  compensation  we 
should  ultimately  receive —  He  must  be  somehow  paid; 
and  I  believe  you  would  do  well  to  turn  the  whole  business 

10 


over  to  him—  I  believe  we  have  had,  of  legal  fees,  which 
you  are  to  recover  back  from  the  defendants,  one  hundred 
dollars —  I  would  not  go  through  the  same  labor  and 
vexation  again  for  five  hundred;  still,  if  you  will  clear  us 
of  Mr.  William  Fishbach  (such  is  his  name)  we  will  be 
most  happy  to  surrender  to  him,  or  to  any  other  person  you 
may  name — 

Yours,  etc., 

A.  LINCOLN." 
"This  shall  never 
be  published.     Herdnon." 

When  Herndon  either  heard  of  it  or  saw  the  letter  he 
hastened  to  the  clients  and  recovered  the  letter  and  endorsed  on 
the  top  and  at  the  end  of  the  letter  that  it  was  never  to  be  pub- 
lished. But  he  published  something  of  a  far  graver  nature 
himself  about  Lincoln's  parentage.  Of  course,  that  was  twenty- 
five  years  later,  and  Herndon  had  grown  older  and  feebler  and 
Herndon  was  never  a  total  abstainer.  But  this  letter  must  have 
been  an  eye-opener  as  to  what  Lincoln  could  say  and  write  when 
unfairly  charged  with  neglect  of  duty. 

While  a  conscientious  lawyer  at  all  times  and  always  serving 
his  client  with  fidelity  and  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability,  a  very 
fine  letter  written  to  one  of  his  clients,  M.  L.  Hays,  October  27, 
1852,  indicates  in  characteristic  fashion  Lincoln's  kindness  of 
heart.  Although  he  was  ready  to  obtain  a  judgment  for  his 
client  he  writes  as  follows : 

"At  our  court,  just  past,  I  could  have  got  a  judgment 
against  Turley,  if  I  had  pressed  to  the  utmost,  but  I  am 
really  sorry  for  him — POOR  and  a  CHPPLE  as  he  is — 
He  begged  time  to  try  to  find  evidence  to  prove  that  the 
deceased  on  his  death-bed,  ordered  the  note  to  be  given  up 
to  him  or  destroyed." 

Lincoln,  too,  was  very  punctilious  as  to  his  charges.  And 
moderate  to  the  point  when  other  practitioners  would  charge 

11 


him  with  ruining  their  prospects  by  charging  so  Httle  for  his 
services.  To  Benjamin  Fuller,  Jr.,  he  gave  the  following 
receipt : 

"Received,  May  11,  1885,  of  Benjamin  Kellogg,  Jr.  fifty 
dollars  in  full  ballance  of  all  fees,  up  to  this  date,  and  also 
one  dollar  and  a  quarter,  to  be  applied  on  the  next  fee — 

A.  LINCOLN—" 

Lincoln  was  absolutely  fearless  as  a  lawyer — as  he  was  in 
public  life.  When  he  had  reached  a  conclusion,  when  he  had 
analyzed  a  proposition,  when  he  became  convinced  of  a  state 
of  facts — he  would  speak  his  mind  and  pronounce  judgment  not 
only  upon  a  political  opponent,  but  upon  the  judge  presiding — 
and  generally  in  open  court — ^and  did  not  distinguish  or  change 
his  practice  even  when  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
was  concerned.  Lawyers  are  all  acquainted  with  the  famous 
Dred  Scoti  decision  by  the  Supreme  Court — which  was  held 
back  until  after  the  Fremont  Buchanan  election.  The  election 
had  been  rather  close— and  it  was  well  within  the  possibilities 
that  had  the  decision  been  promptly  announced  Fremont,  and  not 
Buchanan,  might  have  been  elected.  Now  there  were  great  men 
on  that  Bench  at  the  time.  Roger  B.  Taney  was  still  Chief 
Justice.  It  required  some  courage  to  take  the  Court  to  task. 
Newspapers  might  have  done  it — the  man  in  the  street  might 
have  done  it — and  the  Court  could  disregard  comment  and 
criticism  alike.  But  here  was  a  member  of  the  Bar — the  leader 
of  the  Illinois  Bar — a.  member  of  the  Bar  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States — ^who  could  easily  be  held  to  account  for 
his  strictures  upon  the  most  exalted  tribunal  in  the  world.  But 
here  was  Lincoln,  who  knew  he  was  right,  whose  instinct  re- 
assured him  that  the  judges,  or  some  of  them,  had  an  ear  to  the 
ground,  and  for  the  moment  heard  the  siren  sounds  of  politics, 
and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  cause  had  not  been  disposed 
of  simply  on  the  legal  questions  involved.  He  saw  the  hand  of 
Douglas  and  Pierce  and  Buchanan  in  addition  to  the  voice  of 

12 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


13 


Taney.  Honest  and  fearless  Abraham  Lincoln  is  shocked  at 
the  low  estate  into  which  John  Marshall's  court  had  fallen — 
the  court  which  had  made  our  Constitution  virile  and  our  coun- 
try great.  And  Lincoln  spoke — Lincoln  charged  a  conspiracy 
of  silence  pending  the  election — ^and  conspiracy  of  the  slave 
power  for  the  perpetuation  of  slavery  after  the  election.  He 
was  not  frightened  by  a  Preston  Brooks — ^he  would  probably 
have  broken  every  bone  in  that  coward's  body  had  he  ever 
attempted  to  argue  any  question  with  Lincoln  as  he  did  with 
Sumner,  an  old  man — ^attacked  with  a  bludgeon  from  the  rear 
— this  is  what  Lincoln  has  to  say: 

"My  main  object  was  to  show,  so  far  as  my  humble 
ability  was  capable  of  showing  to  the  people  of  this  coun- 
try, what  I  believe  was  the  truth — that  there  was  a 
tendency,  if  not  a  conspiracy,  among  those  who  have  en- 
gineered this  slavery  question  for  the  last  four  or  five 
years,,  to  make  slavery  perpetual  and  universal  in  this 
nation.  Having  made  that  speech  principally  for  that 
object,  after  arranging  the  evidences  that  I  thought  tended 
to  prove  my  proposition,  I  concluded  with  this  bit  of  com- 
ment : 

"  'We  cannot  absolutely  know  that  these  exact  adapta- 
tions are  the  result  of  preconcert,  but  when  we  see  a  lot 
of  framed  timbers,  different  portions  of  which  we  know 
have  been  gotten  out  at  different  times  and  places,  and 
by  different  workmen — Stephen,  Franklin,  Roger,  and 
James,  for  instance;  and  when  we  see  these  timbers 
joined  together,  and  see  they  exactly  make  the  frame  of 
a  house  or  a  mill,  all  the  tenons  and  mortices  exactly 
fitting,  and  all  the  lengths  and  proportions  of  the  differ- 
ent pieces  exactly  adapted  to  their  respective  places,  and 
not  a  piece  too  many  or  too  few, — not  omitting  even  the 
scaffolding, — or  if  a  single  piece  be  lacking,  we  see  the 
place  in  the  frame  exactly  fitted  and  prepared  to  yet 

14 


bring  such  piece  in — in  such  a  case  we  feel  it  impossible 
not  to  believe  that  Stephen  and  Franklin,  and  Roger  and 
James,  all  understood  one  another  from  the  beginning, 
and  all  worked  upon  a  common  plan  or  draft  drawn  be- 
fore the  first  blow  was  struck.'  " 
Were  a  set  of  conspirators  ever  impaled  like  unto  this  mar- 
velous indictment  drawn  by  the  country  lawyer  of  the  Eighth 
Circuit  of  Illinois? 

As  late  as  August,  1854,  he  writes  to  his  friend,  Thomas,  to 
settle  a  case  for  $110 — "and  my  fee  *  *  '*'  as  to  the 
amount  of  my  fee,  take  ten  dollars,  which  you  and  I  will  divide 
equally."  You  can  about  imagine  the  kind  and  quantity  of  the 
legal  business  which  occupied  him. 

As  late  as  1856,  he  defends  Father  Chiniquy  in  Urbana.  In 
Father  Chiniquy's  volume  "Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome" 
he  relates  how  he  had  become  the  victim  of  a  plot  of  a  corrupt 
Bishop — and  was  taken  for  trial  far  away  from  the  community 
in  which  he  was  known  in  Kankakee.  A  stranger  who  had  wit- 
nessed the  procedure  suggested  to  him — "try  to  secure  the  serv- 
ices of  Abraham  Lincoln  of  Springfield."  "If  that  man  defends 
you,"  said  the  stranger,  "you  will  surely  come  out  victoroius 
from  that  deadly  conflict."  When  asked  for  his  name  the 
stranger  refused  to  give  it  but  said :  "I  am  a  Catholic  like  you, 
and  one  like  you  who  cannot  bear  any  longer  the  tyranny  of  our 
American  bishops.  With  many  others,  I  look  to  you  as  our 
deliverer,  and  for  that  reason  I  advise  you  to  engage  the  serv- 
ices of  Abraham  Lincoln." 

"But,"  replied  Father  Chinigny,  "who  is  that  Abraham  Lin- 
coln?" 

He  replied:  "Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  best  lawyer  and  the 
most  honest  man  in  Illinois." 

His  lawyers  cheerfully  consented  to  the  retaining  of  Lincoln, 
to  whom  he  telegraphed  and  in  about  twenty  minutes  came 
Lincoln's  acceptance. 

15 


•  "It  was  then  that  I  met  Mr.  Abraham  Lincohi  for  the 
first  time.  He  was  a  giant  in  stature,  but  I  found  him  still 
more  a  giant  in  the  noble  qualities  of  his  mind  and  heart. 
It  was  impossible  to  converse  five  minutes  with  him  with- 
out loving  him.  There  was  such  an  expression  of  kindness 
and  honesty  in  that  face,  and  such  an  attractive  magnetism 
in  the  man  that,  after  a  few  moments'  conversation,  one 
felt  as  tied  to  him  by  all  the  noblest  affections  of  the  heart. 

"When  pressing  my  hand,  he  told  me:  'You  were  mis- 
taken when  you  telegraphed  that  you  were  unknown  to  me. 
I  know  you,  by  reputation,  as  the  stern  opponent  of  the 
tyranny  of  your  bishop,  and  the  fearless  protector  of  your 
countrymen  in  Illinois ;  I  have  heard  much  of  you  from 
two  priests ;  and,  last  night,  your  lawyers,  Messrs.  Osgood 
and  Paddock,  acquainted  me  with  the  fact  that  your  bishop 
employs  some  of  his  tools  to  get  rid  of  you.  I  hope  it  will 
be  an  easy  thing  to  defeat  his  projects,  and  protect  you 
against   his   machinations.' 

"He  then  asked  me  how  I  had  been  induced  to  desire 
His  services.  I  answered  by  giving  him  the  story  of  that 
unknown  friend  who  had  advised  me  to  have  Mr.  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  for  one  of  my  lawyers,  for  the  reason  that 
'he  was  the  best  lawyer  and  the  most  honest  man  in  Illi- 
nois.' He  smiled  at  my  answer,  with  that  inimitable  and 
unique  smile,  which  we  may  call  the  'Lincoln  smile,'  and 
replied:  'That  unknown  friend  would  surely  have  been 
more  correct,  had  he  told  you  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
the  ugliest  lawyer  of  the  country !'  and  he  laughed  outright. 

"I  spent  six  long  days  at  Urbana  as  a  criminal,  in  the 
hands  of  the  sheriff,  at  the  feet  of  my  judges.  During  the 
greatest  part  of  that  time,  all  that  human  language  can 
express  of  abuse  and  insult  was  heaped  on  my  poor  head. 
God  only  knows  what  I  suffered  in  those  days ;  but  I  was 
providentially  surrounded,  as  by  a  astrong  wall,   when   T 

16 


had  Abraham  Lincohi  for  my  defence,  'the  best  lawyer  and 
the  most  honest  man  of  Illinois,'  and  the  learned  and 
upright  David  Davis  for  my  judge.  The  latter  became 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States  in  1882;  and  the 
former  its  most  honoured  President  from  1861  to  1865. 

"I  never  heard  anything  like  the  eloquence  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  when  he  demolished  the  testimonies  of  the  two 
perjured  priests,  Lebelle  and  Carthuvel,  who,  with  ten  or 
twelve  other  false  witnesses,  had  sworn  against  me.  I 
would  have  surely  been  declared  innocent,  after  that  elo- 
quent address,  and  the  charge  of  the  learned  Judge  Davis, 
had  not  my  lawyers,  by  a  sad  blunder,  left  a  Roman 
Catholic  on  the  jury.  Of  course,  that  Irish  Roman  Catholic 
wanted  to  condemn  me,  when  the  eleven  honest  and  intelli- 
gent Protestants  were  unanimous  in  voting  'Not  Guilty.' 
The  Court,  having  at  last  found  that  it  was  impossible  to 
persuade  the  jury  to  give  a  unanimous  verdict,  discharged 
them.  But  Spink  again  forced  the  sheriff  to  keep  me 
prisoner,  by  obtaining  from  the  Court  the  permission  to 
begin  the  prosecution  de  novo  at  the  term  of  the  fall,  the 
19th  of  October,  1856. 

"The  jury  having  been  selected  and  sworn,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Lebelle  was  the  first  witness  called  to  testify  and  say  what 
he  knew  against  my  character. 

''Mr.  Lincoln  objected  to  that  kind  of  testimony,  and 
tried  to  prove  that  Mr.  Spink  had  no  right  to  bring  his  new 
suit  against  me  by  attacking  my  character.  But  Judge 
Davis  ruled  that  the  prosecution  had  that  right  in  the  case 
that  was  before  him.  Mr.  Lebelle  had,  then,  full  liberty  to 
say  anything  he  wanted  ,and  he  availed  himself  of  his 
privilege.  'His  testimony  lasted  nearly  an  hour,  and  was 
too  long  to  be  given  here.  I  will  only  say  that  he  began 
by  declaring  that  "Chiniquy  was  one  of  the  vilest  men  of 
the  day — that  every  kind  of  bad  rumour  were  constantly 
circulating  against  him."     He   gave  a   good   number   of 

17 


those  rumours,  though  he  could  not  positively  swear  if  they 
were  founded  on  truth  or  not,  for  he  had  not  investigated 
them.  But  he  said  there  was  one  of  which  he  was  sure,  for 
he  had  authenticated  it  thoroughly.  He  expressed  a  great 
deal  of  apparent  regret  that  he  was  forced  to  reveal  to  the 
world  such  things,  which  were  not  only  against  the  honour 
of  Chiniquy,  but,  to  some  extent,  involved  the  good  name 
of  a  dear  sister,  Madame  Bosse.  But  as  he  was  to  speak 
the  truth  before  God,  he  could  not  help  it — the  sad  truth 
was  not  to  be  told.  ^Mr.  Chiniquy/  he  said,  'had  attempted 
to  do  the  most  infamous  things  zvith  my  own  sister, 
Madame  Bosse.  She  herself  has  told  me  the  whole  story 
under  oath,  and  she  would  be  here  to  unmask  the  wicked 
man  to-day  before  the  whole  world,  if  she  were  not  forced 
to  silence  at  home  from  a  severe  illness.' 

"Though  every  word  of  that  story  was  a  perjury,  there 
was  such  a  colour  of  truth  and  sincerity  in  my  accuser, 
that  his  testimony  fell  upon  me  and  my  lawyers  and  all  my 
friends  as  a  thunderbolt.  A  man  who  has  never  heard  such 
a  calumny  brought  against  him  before  a  jury  in  a  Court- 
house packed  with  people,  composed  of  friends  and  foes, 
will  never  understand  what  I  felt  in  this  the  darkest  hour 
of  my  life.  My  God  only  knows  the  weight  and  the  bitter- 
ness of  the  waves  of  desolation  which  then  passed  over  my 
soul. 

"After  that  testimony  was  givenj  there  was  a  lull,  and  a 
most  profound  silence  in  the  court-room.  All  the  eyes 
were  turned  upon  me,  and  I  heard  many  voices  speaking  of 
me,  whispering,  'The  villain!'  Those  voices  passed 
through  my  soul  as  poisoned  arrows.  Though  innocent,  I 
wished  that  the  ground  would  upon  under  my  feet  and 
bring  me  down  to  the  darkest  abysses,  to  conceal  me  from 
the  eyes  of  my  friends  and  the  whole  world. 

"However,  Mr.  Lincoln  soon  interrupted  the  silence  by 
addressing  to  Lebelle  such  cross-questions  that  his  testi- 

18 


mony,  in  the  minds  of  many,  soon  lost  much  of  its  power. 
And  he  did  still  more  destroy  the  effect  of  his  (Lebelle's) 
false  oath,  when  he  brought  my  twelve  witnesses,  who  were 
among  the  most  respectable  citizens  of  Bourbonnais,  form- 
erly the  parishioners  of  Mr.  Lebelle.  Those  twelve  gentle- 
men swore  that  Mr.  Lebelle  was  such  a  drunkard  and 
vicious  man,  that  he  was  so  publicly  my  enemy  on  account 
of  the  many  rebukes  I  had  given  to  his  private  and  public 
vices,  that  they  would  not  believe  a  word  of  what  he  said, 
even  upon  his  oath. 

"At  ten  p.  m.  the  Court  was  adjourned,  to  meet  again 
the  next  morning,  and  I  went  to  the  room  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
with  my  two  other  lawyers,  to  confer  about  the  morning's 
work.  My  mind  was  unspeakably  sad.  Life  had  never 
been  such  a  burden  to  me  as  in  that  hour.  I  was  tempted, 
like  Job,  to  curse  the  hour  when  I  was  born.  I  could  see  in 
the  face  of  my  lawyers,  though  they  tried  to  conceal  it, 
that  they  were  also  full  of  anxiety. 

"  'My  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  'though  I 
hope,  to-morrow,  to  destroy  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Lebelle 
against  you,  I  must  concede  that  I  see  great  dangers  ahead. 
There  is  not  the  least  doubt  in  my  mind  that  every  word  he 
has  said  is  a  sworn  lie ;  but  my  fear  is  that  the  jury  thinks 
differently.  I  am  a  pretty  good  judge  in  these  matters.  I 
feel  that  our  jurymen  think  that  you  are  guilty.  There  is 
only  one  way  to  perfectly  destroy  the  power  of  a  false 
witness — it  is  by  another  direct  testimony  against  what  he 
has  said,  or  by  showing  from  his  very  lips  that  he  has 
perjured  himself.  I  failed  to  do  that  last  night,  though  I 
have  diminished,  to  a  great  extent,  the  force  of  his  testi- 
mony. Can  you  not  prove  an  alibi,  or  can  you  not  bring 
witnesses  who  were  there  in  the  same  house  that  day,  who 
would  flatly  and  directly  contradict  what  your  remorseless 
enemy  has  said  against  you  ?' 

19 


"I  answered  him:  'How  can  I  try  to  do  such  a  thing 
when  they  have  been  shrewd  enough  not  to  fix  the  very 
date  of  the  alleged  crime  against  me?' 

''  'You  are  correct,  you  are  perfectly  correct,  Mr.  Chini- 
quy,'  answered  Mr.  Lincoln,  'as  they  have  refused  to  fix 
the  date,  we  cannot  try  that.  I  have  never  seen  two  such 
skilful  rogues  as  those  two  priests.  There  is  really  a 
diabolical  skill  in  the  plan  they  have  concocted  for  your 
destruction.  It  is  evident  that  the  bishop  is  at  the  bottom 
of  the  plot.  You  remember  how  I  have  forced  Lebelle  to 
confess  that  he  was  now  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with 
the  Bishop  of  Chicago,  since  he  has  become  the  chief  of 
your  accusers.  Though  I  do  not  give  up  the  hope  of 
rescuing  you  from  the  hands  of  your  enemies,  I  do  not 
like  to  conceal  from  you  that  I  have  several  reasons  to  fear 
that  you  will  be  declared  guilty  and  condemned  to  a  heavy 
penalty,  or  to  the  penitentiary,  though  I  am  sure  you  are 
perfectly  innocent.  It  is  very  probable  that  we  will  have 
to  confront  that  sister  of  Lebelle  to-morrow.  Her  sickness 
is  probably  a  feint,  in  order  not  to  appear  here  except  after 
the  brother  will  have  prepared  the  public  mind  .  in  her 
favour.  At  all  events,  if  she  does  not  come,  they  will 
send  some  justice  of  the  peace  to  get  her  sworn  testimony, 
which  will  be  more  difficult  to  rebut  than  her  own  verbal 
declarations.  That  woman  is  evidently  in  the  hands  of 
the  bishop  and  her  brother  priest,  ready  to  swear  anything 
they  order  her,  and  I  know  nothing  so  difficult  as  to  refute 
such  female  testimonies,  particularly  when  they  are  absent 
from  the  court.  The  only  way  to  be  sure  of  a  favourable 
verdict  to-morrow  is,  that  God  Almighty  would  take  our 
part  and  show  your  innocence !  Go  to  Him  and  pray,  for 
He  alone  can  save  you.' 

"Mr.  Lincoln  was  exceedingly  solemn  when  he  addressed 
those  words  to  me,  and  they  went  very  deep  into  my  soul. 

"I  have  often  been  asked  if  Abraham  Lincoln  had  any 

20 


religion.  But  I  never  had  any  doubt  about  his  profound 
confidence  in  God  since  I  heard  those  words  faUing  from 
his  Hps  in  that  hour  of  anxiety.  I  had  not  been  able  to 
conceal  my  deep  distress.  Burning  tears  were  rolling  on 
my  cheeks  when  he  was  speaking,  and  there  was  on  his 
face  the  expression  of  friendly  sympathy  which  I  shall 
never  forget.  Without  being  able  to  say  a  word  I  left  him 
to  go  to  my  little  room.  It  was  nearly  eleven  o'clock.  I 
locked  the  door  and  fell  on  my  knees  to  pray,  but  I  was 
unable  to  say  a  single  word. 

"The  horrible  sworn  calumnies  thrown  at  my  face  by  a 
priest  of  my  own  Church  were  ringing  in  my  ears;  my 
honour  and  my  good  name  so  cruelly  and  for  ever  de- 
stroyed; all  my  friends  and  my  dear  people  covered  with 
an  eternal  confusion;  and  more  than  that,  the  sentence  of 
condemnation  which  was  probably  to  be  hurled  against  me 
the  next  day  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  country,  whose 
eyes  were  upon  me.  All  those  things  were  before  me,  not 
only  as  horrible  phantoms,  but  as  heavy  mountains,  under 
the  burdens  of  which  I  could  not  breathe.  At  last  the 
fountains  of  tears  were  opened,  and  it  relieved  me  to 
weep;  I  could  then  speak  and  cry:  *Oh!  my  God!  have 
mercy  upon  me !  Thou  knowest  my  innocence ;  has  Thou 
not  promised  that  those  who  trust  in  Thee  cannot  perish? 
Oh?  do  not  let  me  perish  when  Thou  art  the  only  One  in 
whom  I  trust.     Come  to  my  help.     Save  me.' 

'Trorn  eleven  p.  m.  to  three  in  the  morning  I  cried  to 
God,  and  raised  my  supplicating  hands  to  His  throne  of 
mercy.  But  I  confess,  to  my  confusion,  it  seemed  to  me 
in  certain  moments  that  it  was  useless  to  pray  and  to  cry, 
for  though  innocent  I  was  doomed  to  perish.  1. 1  was  in  the 
hands  of  my  enemies.    My  God  had  forsaken  me, 

''What  an  awful  night  I  spent.  I  hope  none  of  my 
readers  will  ever  know  by  their  own  experience  the  agony 

21 


of  spirit  I  endured.    I  had  no  other  expectation  than  to  be 

for  ever  dishonoured  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  the  next 
morning. 

"But  God  had  not  forsaken  me.  He  had  again  heard  my 
cries  and  was  once  more  to  show  me  His  infinite  mercy. 

"At  three  o'clock  a.  m.  I  heard  three  knocks  at  my  door, 
and  I  quickly  went  to  open  it.  'Who  was  there?  x\braham 
Lincoln,  w4th  a  face  beaming  with  joy.' 

"I  could  hardly  believe  my  eyes.  But  I  was  not  mis- 
taken. It  was  my  noble-hearted  friend,  the  most  honest 
lawyer  of  Illinois — one  of  the  noblest  men  Heaven  had 
ever  given  to  earth.  It  was  Abraham  Lincoln  who  had 
been  given  to  me  as  my  Saviour.  On  seeing  me  bathed 
with  tears  he  exclaimed :  'Cheer  up,  Mr.  Chiniquy,  I  have 
the  perjured  priests  in  my  hands.  Their  diabolical  plot  is 
all  known,  and  if  they  do  not  fly  away  before  the  dawn  of 
day  they  will  surely  be  lynched.  Bless  the  Lord,  you  are 
saved.' 

"The  sudden  passage  of  extreme  desolation  to  an  ex- 
treme joy  came  near  killing  me.  I  felt  as  suffocated,  and 
unable  to  utter  a  single  word.  I  took  his  hand,  pressed  it 
to  my  lips,  and  bathed  it  with  tears  of  joy.  I  said:  *May 
God  for  ever  bless  you,  dear  Mr.  Lincoln.  But  please 
tell  me  how  you  can  bring  me  such  glorious  news/ 

"Here  is  the  simple  but  marvelous  story,  as  told  me. by 
that  great  and  good  man  whom  God  had  made  the  messen- 
ger of  His  mercies  towards  me : 

"  'As  soon  as  Lebelle  had  given  his  perjured  testimony 
against  you  yesterday,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  'one  of  the 
agents  of  the  Chicago  press  telegraphed  to  some  of  the 
principal  papers  of  Chicago :  "It  is  probable  that  Mr. 
Chiniquy  will  be  condemned ;  for  the  testimony  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Lebelle  seems  to  leave  no  doubt  that  he  is  guilty." 
And  the  little  Irish  boys,  to  sell  their  papers,   filled  the 

22 


streets  with  cries,  ''Chiniquy  will  be  hung !  Chiniquy  will 
be  hung!"  The  Roman  Catholics  were  so  glad  to  hear 
that,  that  ten  thousand  extra  copies  have  been  sold.  Among 
those  who  bought  those  papers  was  a  friend  of  yours, 
called  Terrien,  who  went  to  his  wife  and  told  her  that  you 
were  to  be  condemned,  and  when  the  woman  heard  that 
she  said :  "It  is  too  bad,  for  I  know  Mr.  Chiniquy  is  not 
guilty." 

"  *How  do  you  know  that?*  said  the  husband.  She 
answered :  *I  was  there  when  the  priest  Lebelle  made  the 
plot,  and  promised  to  give  his  sister  two  eighties  of  good 
land  it  she  would  swear  a  false  oath — ^and  accuse  him  of  a 
crime  which  that  woman  said  he  had  not  even  thought  of 
with  her/ 

"  'If  it  be  so,'  said  Terrien,  Sve  cannot  allow  Mr.  Chini- 
quy to  be  condemned.    Come  with  me  to  Urbana.* 

"But  that  woman,  being  quite  unwell,  said  to  her  hus- 
band: 'You  know  well  I  cannot  go:  but  Miss  Philomene 
Moffat  was  with  me  then.  She  knows  every  particular  of 
that  wicked  plot  as  well  as  I  do.  She  is  well :  go  and  take 
her  to  Urbana.  There  is  no  doubt  that  her  testimony  will 
prevent  the  condemnation  of  Mr.  Chiniquy.' 

"Narcisse  Terrien  started  immediately:  and  when  you 
were  praying  God  to  come  to  your  help.  He  was  sending 
your  deliverer  at  the  full  speed  of  the  railroad  cars.  Miss 
Moffatt  has  just  given  me  the  details  of  that  diabolical  plot. 
I  have  advised  her  not  to  show  herself  before  the  Court  is 
opened.  I  will  then  send  for  her,  and  when  she  will  have 
given,  under  oath,  before  the ^  Court,  the  details  she  has 
just  given  me,  I  pity  Spink  with  his  perjured  priests.  As 
I  told  you,  I  would  not  be  surprised  if  they  were  lynched : 
for  there  is  a  terrible  excitement  in  town  among  many 
people,  who,  from  the  beginning,  suspect  that  the  priests 
have  perjured  themselves  to  destroy  you. 

23 


"  'Now  your  suit  is  gained,  and  to-morrow  you  will  have 
the  greatest  triumph  a  man  ever  got  over  his  confounded 
foes.  But  you  are  in  need  of  rest  as  well  as  myself. 
Good-bye.' 

"After  thanking  God  for  that  marvellous  deliverance,  I 
went  to  bed  and  took  the  needed  rest. 

"But  what  was  the  priest  Lebelle  doing  at  that, very 
moment  ?  Unable  to  sleep  after  the  awful  perjury  he  had 
just  made,  he  had  watched  the  arrival  of  the  trains  from 
Chicago  with  an  anxious  mind,  for  he  was  aware,  through 
the  confessions  he  had  heard,  that  there  were  two  persons 
in  that  city  who  knew  his  plot  and  his  false  oath ;  and 
though  he  had  the  promises  from  them  that  they  would 
never  reveal  it  to  anybody,  he  was  not  without  some  fear- 
ful apprehension  that  I  might,  by  some  way  or  other,  be- 
come acquainted  with  his  abominable  conspiracy.  Not  long 
after  the  arrival  of  the  trains  from  Chicago,  he  came  down 
from  his  room  to  see,  in  the  book  where  travellers  register 
their  names,  if  there  were  any  new  comers  from  Chicago, 
and  what  was  his  dismay  when  he  saw  the  first  name  en- 
tered was  'Philomene  MoffattT  That  very  name,  Phil- 
omene  Moitatt,  who,  some  time  before,  had  gone  to  con- 
fess to  him  that  she  had  heard  the  whole  plot  from  his  own 
lips,  when  he  had  promised  160  acres  of  land  to  persuade 
his  sister  to  perjure  herself  in  order  to  destroy  me.  A 
deadly  presentiment  chilled  the  blood  in  his  veins !  'Would 
it  be  possible  that  this  girl  is  here  to  reveal  and  prove  my 
perjury  before  the  world?' 

'He  immediately  sent  for  her,  when  she  was  just  com- 
ing from  meeting  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"  'Miss  Philomene  Moffatt  here!'  he  exclaimed,  when  he 
saw  her.  'What  are  you  coming  here  for,  this  night?'  he 
said. 

24 


"  'You  will  know  it,  sir,  to-morrow  morning,'  she 
answered. 

"  *Ah !  wretched  girl !  you  come  to  destroy  me  ?'  he  ex- 
claimed. 

"She  replied:  '1  do  not  come  to  destroy  you,  for  you 
are  already  destroyed.     Mr.  Lincoln  knows  everything.' 

"'Oh!  my  God!  my  God!'  he  exclaimed,  striking  his 
forehead  with  his  hands.  Then,  taking  a  big  bundle  of 
bank-notes  from  his  pocket-book,  he  said:  'Here  are  one 
hundred  dollars  for  you,  if  you  take  the  morning  train  and 
go  back  to  Chicago/ 

"  *If  you  would  offer  me  as  much  gold  as  this  house 
could  contain,  I  would  not  go,*  she. replied. 

"He  then  left  her  abruptly,  ran  to  the  sleeping  room  of 
Spink,  and  told  him :  'Withdraw  your  suit,  against  Chin- 
iquy ;  we  are  lost ;  he  knows  all.' 

"Without  losing  a  moment,  he  went  to  the  sleeping- 
room  of  his  co-priest,  and  told  him:  'Make  haste — dress 
yourself  and  let  us  take  the  morning  train;  we  have  no 
business  here,  Chiniquy  knows  all  our  secrets.' 

"W^hen  the  hour  of  opening  the  Court  came  there  was 
an  immense  crowd,  not  only  inside,  but  outside  its  walls. 
Mr.  Spink,  pale  as  a  man  condemned  to  death,  rose  before 
the  Judge  and  said:  'Please  the  Court,  allow  me  to  with- 
draw my  prosecution  against  Mr.  Chiniquy.  .  I  am  now  per- 
suaded that  he  is  not  guilty  of  the  faults  brought  against 
him  before  this  tribunal.' 

"Abraham  Lincoln  having  accepted  that  reparation  in 
my  name,  made  a  short,  but  one  of  the  most  admirable 
speeches  I  have  ever  heard,  .on  the  cruel  injustices  I  had 
suffered  from  my  merciless  persecutors,  and  denounced 
the  rascality  of  the  priests  who  had  perjured  themselves, 
with  such  terrible  colours,  that  it  had  been  very  wise  on 

25 


"  'Now  your  suit  is  gained,  and  to-morrow  you  will  have 
the  greatest  triumph  a  man  ever  got  over  his  confounded 
foes.  But  you  are  in  need  of  rest  as  well  as  myself. 
Good-bye.* 

"After  thanking  God  for  that  marvellous  deliverance,  I 
went  to  bed  and  took  the  needed  rest. 

"But  what  was  the  priest  Lebelle  doing  at  that, very 
moment?  Unable  to  sleep  after  the  awful  perjury  he  had 
just  made,  he  had  watched  the  arrival  of  the  trains  from 
Chicago  with  an  anxious  mind,  for  he  was  aware,  through 
the  confessions  he  had  heard,  that  there  were  two  persons 
in  that  city  who  knew  his  plot  and  his  false  oath;  and 
though  he  had  the  promises  from  them  that  they  would 
never  reveal  it  to  anybody,  he  was  not  without  some  fear- 
ful apprehension  that  I  might,  by  some  way  or  other,  be- 
come acquainted  with  his  abominable  conspiracy.  Not  long- 
after  the  arrival  of  the  trains  from  Chicago,  he  came  down 
from  his  room  to  see,  in  the  book  where  travellers  register 
their  names,  if  there  were  any  new  comers  from  Chicago, 
and  what  was  his  dismay  when  he  saw  the  first  name  en- 
tered was  'Philomene  Moffatt!'  That  very  name,  Phil- 
omene  Moffatt,  who,  some  time  before,  had  gone  to  con- 
fess to  him  that  she  had  heard  the  whole  plot  from  his  own 
lips,  when  he  had  promised  160  acres  of  land  to  persuade 
his  sister  to  perjure  herself  in  order  to  destroy  me.  A 
deadly  presentiment  chilled  the  blood  in  his  veins !  'Would 
it  be  possible  that  this  girl  is  here  to  reveal  and  prove  my 
perjury  before  the  world?' 

'He  immediately  sent  for  her,  when  she  was  just  com- 
ing from  meeting  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"  'Miss  Philomene  Moffatt  here !'  he  exclaimed,  when  he 
saw  her.  'What  are  you  coming  here  for,  this  night?'  he 
said. 

24 


"  'You  will  know  it,  sir,  to-morrow  morning,'  she 
answered. 

"  *Ah !  wretched  girl !  you  come  to  destroy  me  ?'  he  ex- 
claimed. 

"She  replied:  *I  do  not  come  to  destroy  you,  for  you 
are  already  destroyed.     Mr.  Lincoln  knows  everything.' 

"*0h!  my  God!  my  God!'  he  exclaimed,  striking  his 
forehead  with  his  hands.  Then,  taking  a  big  bundle  of 
bank-notes  from  his  pocket-book,  he  said :  'Here  are  one 
hundred  dollars  for  you,  if  you  take  the  morning  train  and 
go  back  to  Chicago.' 

"  Tf  you  would  offer  me  as  much  gold  as  this  house 
could  contain,  I  would  not  go,*  she.repHed. 

"He  then  left  her  abruptly,  ran  to  the  sleeping  room  of 
Spink,  and  told  him :  'Withdraw  your  suit,  against  Chin- 
iquy;  we  are  lost;  he  knows  all.' 

"Without  losing  a  moment,  he  went  to  the  sleeping- 
room  of  his  co-priest,  and  told  him:  'Make  haste — dress 
yourself  and  let  us  take  the  morning  train;  we  have  no 
business  here,  Chiniquy  knows  all  our  secrets.' 

"W^hen  the  hour  of  opening  the  Court  came  there  was 
an  immense  crowd,  not  only  inside,  but  outside  its  walls. 
Mr.  Spink,  pale  as  a  man  condemned  to  death,  rose  before 
the  Judge  and  said:  'Please  the  Court,  allow  me  to  with- 
draw my  prosecution  against  Mr.  Chiniquy.  I  am  now  per- 
suaded that  he  is  not  guilty  of  the  faults  brought  against 
him  before  this  tribunal.' 

"Abraham  Lincoln  having  accepted  that  reparation  in 
my  name,  made  a  short,  but  one  of  the  most  admirable 
speeches  I  have  ever  heard,  ,on  the  cruel  injustices  I  had 
suffered  from  my  merciless  persecutors,  and  denounced 
the  rascality  of  the  priests  who  had  perjured  themselves, 
with  such  terrible  colours,  that  it  had  been  very  wise  on 

25 


their  part  to  fly  away  and  disappear  before  the  opening  ot 
the  Court. 

"Abraham  Lincoln  had  not  only  defended  me  with  the 
zeal  and  talent  of  the  ablest  lawyer  I  have  ever  known,  but 
as  the  most  devoted  and  noblest  friend  I  ever  had.  After 
giving  me  more  than  a  year  of  his  precious  time  to  my  de- 
fence, when  he  had  pleaded  during  two  long  sessions  of  the 
Court  of  Urbana  without  receiving  a  cent  from  me,  I  con- 
sidered that  I  was  owing  him  a  great  sum  of  money.  My 
two  other  lawyers,  who  had  not  done  the  half  of  his  work, 
asked  me  a  thousand  dollars  each,  and  I  had  not  thought 
that  too  much.  After  thanking  him  for  the  inappreciable 
services  he  had  rendered  me,  I  requested  him  to  show  me 
his  bill,  assuring  him  that,  though  I  would  not  be  able  to 
pay  the  whole  cash,  I  would  pay  him  the  last  cent,  if  he  had 
the  kindness  to  wait  a  little  for  the  balance. 

"He  answered  me  with  a  smile  and  an  air  of  inimitable 
kindness  which  was  peculiar  to  him :  'My  dear  Mr.  Chin- 
iquy,  I  feel  proud  and  honoured  to  have  been  called  to  de- 
fend you.  But  I  have  done  it  less  as  a  lawyer  than  as  a 
friend.  The  money  I  should  receive  from  you  would  take 
away  the  pleasure  I  feel  at  having  fought  your  battle. 
Your  case  is  unique  in  my  whole  practice.  I  have  never 
met  a  man  so  cruelly  persecuted  as  you  have  been,  and  who 
deserves  it  so  little.  Your  enemies  are  devils  incarnate. 
The  plot  they  had  concocted  against  you  is  the  most  hellish 
one  I  ever  knew.  But  the  way  you  have  been  saved  from 
their  hands,  the  appearance  of  that  young  and  intelligent 
Miss  Moffatt,  who  was  really  sent  by  God  in  the  very  hour 
of  need,  when,  I  confess  it  again,  I  thought  everything 
was  nearly  lost,  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  occur- 
rences I  ever  saw.  It  makes  me  remember  what  I  have 
too  often  forgotten,  and  what  my  mother  often  told  me 
when  young — that  our  God  is  a  prayer-hearing  God.  This 
good  thought,   sown  into  my  young  heart  by  that  dear 

26 


mother's  hand,  was  just  in  my  mind  when  I  told  you,  "Go 
and  pray,  God  alone  can  save  you."  But  I  confess  to  you 
that  I  had  not  faith  enough  to  believe  that  your  prayer 
would  be  so  quickly  and  marvellously  answered  by  the  sud- 
den appearance  of  that  interesting  young  lady  last  night. 
Now  let  us  speak  of  what  you  owe  me.  Well !  well !  how 
much  do  you  owe  me  ?  You  owe  me  nothing !  for  I  suppose 
you  are  quite  ruined.  The  expenses  of  such  a  suit,  I  know, 
must  be  enormous.  Your  enemies  want  to  ruin  you.  Will 
I  help  them  to  finish  your  ruin,  when  I  hope  I  have  the 
right  to  be  put  among  the  most  sincere  and  devoted  of  your 
friends  ?* 

"  *You  are  right,'  I  answered ;  'you  are  the  most  de- 
voted and  noblest  friend  God  ever  gave  me,  and  I  am 
nearly  ruined  by  my  enemies.  But  you  are  the  father  of 
a  pretty  large  family;  you  must  support  them.  Your 
travelling  expenses  in  coming  twice  here  for  me  from 
Springfield;  your  hotel  bills,  during  the  two  terms  you 
have  defended  me,  must  be  very  considerable.  It  is  not 
just  that  you  should  receive  nothing  in  return  for  such 
work  and  expenses.' 

"  'Well !  well !'  he  answered,  'I  will  give  you  a  promis- 
sory note  which  you  will  sign.'  Taking  then  a  small  piece 
of  paper,  he  wrote. 

"He  handed  me  the  note,  saying,  'Can  you  sign  that?' 

"  'Urbana,  May  23,  1857.  Due  A.  Lincoln  fifty  dollars, 
for  value  received.     C.  Chiniquy.' 

"After  reading  it,  I  said,  'Dear  Mr.  Lincoln,  this  is  a 
joke.  It  is  not  possible  that  you  ask  only  fifty  dollars  for 
services  which  are  worth  at  least  two  thousand  dollars.' 

"He  then  tapped  me  with  the  right  hand  on  the  shoulder 
and  said :  'Sign  that ;  it  is  enough.  I  will  pinch  some  rich 
men  for  that  and  make  them  pay  the  rest  of  the  bill,'  and 
he  laughted  outright. 

27 


"When  Abraham  Lincohi  was  writing  the  due-bill,  the 
relaxation  of  the  great  strain  upon  my  mind,  and  the  great 
kindness  of  my  benefactor  and  defender  in  charging  me 
so  little  for  such  a  service,  and  the  terrible  presentiment 
that  he  would  pay  with  his  life  what  he  had  done  for  me, 
caused  me  to  break  into  sobs  and  tears. 

'  "As  Mr.  Lincoln  had  finished  writing  the  due-bill,  he 
turned  round  to  me  and  said,  'Father  Chiniquy,  what  are 
you  crying  for  ?  ought  you  not  to  be  the  most  happy  man 
alive?  you  have  beaten  your  enemies  and  gained  the  most 
glorious  victory,  and  you  will  come  out  of  all  your  troubles 
in  triumph.' 

"  'Dear  Mr.  Lincoln,'  I  answered,  'allow  me  to  tell  you 
that  the  joy  I  should  naturally  feel  for  such  a  victory  is 
destroyed  in  my  mind  by  the  fear  of  what  it  may  cost  you. 
Th^re  were,  then,  in  the  crowd  not  less  than  ten  or  twelve 
Jesuits  from  Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  who  came  to  hear  my 
sentence  of  condemnation  to  the  penitentiary.  But  it  was 
on  their  heads  that  you  have  brought  the  thunders  of 
heaven  and  earth!  nothing  can  be  compared  to  the  ex- 
pression of  their  rage  against  you,  when  you  not  only 
wrenched  me  from  their  cruel  hands,  but  you  were  making 
the  walls  of  the  Court-house  tremble  under  the  awful  and 
superhumanly  eloquent  denunciation  of  their  infamy, 
diabolical  malice,  and  total  want  of  Christian  and  human 
principle,  in  the  plot  they  had  formed  for  my  destruction. 
What  troubles  my  soul  just  now,  and  draws  my  tears,  is 
that  it  seems  to  me  that  I  have  read  your  sentence  of  death 
in  their  bloody  eyes.  How  many  other  noble  victims  have 
already  fallen  at  their  feet!' 

"He  tried  to  divert  my  mind  at  first  with  a  joke.  'Sign 
this,'  said  he,  'it  will  be  my  warrant  of  death.' 

"But  after  I  had  signed  he  became  more  solemn,  and 
said,  'I  know  that  Jesuits  never  forget  nor  forsake,     l^ut 

28 


man  must  not  care  how  and  where  he  dies,  provided  he 
dies  at  the  post  of  honour  and  duty,'  and  he  left  me." 

In  an  age  when  lawyers  like  Webster  and  Wirt  and  Lincoln 
never  made  more  than  four  or  five  thousand  dollars  a  year — 
there  was  nevertheless  more  real  advocacy,  more  skill  in  the 
trial  of  causes,  more  real  effort  and  preparation  than  in  an  age 
when  there  are  so  many  diversions,  so  many  other  tasks,  so 
much  other  effort  to  weaken  the  one  mission  of  our  lives — to 
practice  our  profession  as  we  should  desire  to  do.  Given  there- 
fore the  best  of  our  endowed  lawyers — and  he  cannot  and  will 
not  appear  to  the  same  advantage  as  did  the  others  of  those 
other  times — for  if  for  no  other  reason — the  background  is  miss- 
ing. The  Court  House  was  the  theatre,  the  concert  hall,  the 
opera  house ;  and  the  outside  of  the  Court  House  was  the  public 
forum.  Lincoln  practiced  his  profession  among  friends  and 
neighbors,  and  when  his  cause  was  just — and  he  rarely  ap- 
peared in  others — ^he  was  simply  superb.  His  reasoning,  his 
logic,  his  eloquence,  his  broad  humanity — were  all  called  into 
play — and  client  and  juror  and  judge  and  listener  were  all  spell- 
bound and  convinced  by  this  honest  lawyer,  who  ever  told  the 
truth  and  almost  always  conceded  and  almost  gave  his  case 
away;  but  he  never  lost  an  honest  case — in  the  trial  of  which 
no  one  could  successfully  resist  him. 

The  variety  of  his  practice,  too,  brought  into  play  the  finest 
faculties  in  him.  He  was  not  simply  the  country  lawyer,  the 
cornfield  lawyer,  the  village  notary,  the  petty  criminal  lawyer 
— if  you  compare  and  study  the  list  of  his  known  cases  you 
will  see  practically  every  phase  of  law  and  manifestation  of  the 
operation  of  law  as  it  comes  into  the  lives  of  the  people. 

I  have  attempted  to  bring  to  your  attention  some  new  features 
in  the  career  of  Lincoln  at  the  bar,  in  order  to  show  his  re- 
markable adaptability  and  the  wonderful  resiliency  of  his  mind 
to  any  new  feature,  to  any  new  problems,  in  order  that  we 
might  better  appreciate  his  thorough  preparation  for  his  great 

29 


work  in  the  Lincoln-Douglas  Debate  in  his  epoch  making- 
speech  at  Cooper  Union,  and  finally  at  Washington — where  he 
was  called  upon  to  face  and  solve  problems  which  called  into 
play  all  the  various  manifestations  of  this  many-sided  man,  and 
he  actually  grappled  and  solved  practically  alone,  all  the  great 
questions  which  came  up  during  those  overcrowded  years  in 
Washington.  The  rebellious  Cabinet,  the  hostile  Congress,  the 
threatening  Abolitionists,  the  disloyal  Copperheads,  the  treason- 
able activities  of  the  Valladinghams  and  his  coadjutors,  the 
Trent  Affair,  the  choice  and  removal  of  Generals,  the  suppres- 
sion of  peace  talk  with  the  suggestion  of  telling  the  erring  sis- 
ters to  go,  the  struggle  with  a  semi-hostile  press  and  a  pacifist 
pulpit,  the  superb  diplomacy  which  kept  England,  France  and 
other  European  countries  out  of  the  dispute,  the  creation  of  an 
army  and  a  navy,  the  wearing  down  of  all  opposition,  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  the  beginnings  of  Reconstruction, 
and  final  Victory  and  the  apotheosis  in  the  sealing  of  the  pact 
with  the  blood  of  the  first  martyr  in  the  Presidency— were  all 
the  decrees  of  Providence  choosing  this  physical  and  mental 
giant  to  grapple  with  the  task  which  pygmies  had  been  unable 
to  comprehend — free  a  race,  solidify  the  Union,  and  take  his 
place,  when  his  task  was  done,  with  the  few  immortals — who 
tower  over  their  fellows  in  the  history  of  mankind. 


30 


c.< 


4iX-e^  ,  -»^>^<->,         ^ *-   >^<-T.^^..«^<  »-<»-w__,        «V/^  J^  >Nf 


,^^*vr  i^CXX^^  ^>~^».  i'^-C^^-,  /^,  X^       (j^  ^     < 1^ /tu-jatUic^ 

(S-ee  pages  10  and  11) 


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(See  pages  8  and  9) 


THE  LINCOLN-CANISIUS  CONTRACT 

Establishing   the    First   German    Newspaper   in    Springfield 


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(See  page  27) 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILUNOIS-URBANA 

973.7L63GH44ABR  C001 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  MORE  THAN  A  COUNTRY  LAW 


3  0112  031819193 


